Designer, photographer, filmmaker, and musician, Juan combines his interests and storytelling skills to create content around nature, science, and everyday life. He has worked mainly in creative areas; he is currently a producer for the Santiago Wild festival and a freelance filmmaker.

Q: What do you value about the Jackson Wild Collective, and/or how has it served you in your work?

The moment I found the Collective for the first time, what really turned me on was to see so many people from all over the world with whom we share a strong common interest. People who I am sure feel an inner calling towards nature and storytelling, of great vocation and passion.

Belonging to such a community is a great motivation. To see what work they are doing in different parts of the world, to be a click away from so much information and connection is very valuable. In such a pyramidal industry, many independent enthusiasts are trying to make their way, so the Collective is not only important, but very smart to give a roof and a base for filmmakers, scientists and storytellers to connect. That's why this platform and gatherings like Jackson Wild are so relevant; they keep the flame alive and the wheel spinning.

Q: What is the hardest part of the work that you do? Conversely, what is the most exciting part of your work?

The most challenging part of my job, I think, is managing freelance work in general. Being a freelancer is both the most difficult and the most exciting. Navigating a world as fast-paced and anxious as the one we live in today gives it that extra bit of difficulty. My day-to-day tasks are not necessarily “difficult”, but the engine that drives the day-to-day actions is what you must keep oiled, fine-tuned, and well-cared.

The most motivating thing about my work is precisely that the relationship with everything I do is quite one-to-one, and implies an awareness and care about what is done and that it is done well. I have always leaned more towards expanded knowledge than specialized knowledge. My Design degree gave me a more bird's-eye view.

Working at Santiago Wild and being a producer is pure management, for example… building bridges between different parts. But I'm also constantly creating something, doing parallel things, going out to film, researching, connecting with people, etc. To me, finding balance is like “the art of life”, I feel, and it's a long-term exercise. It is pretty much all the time about that, but balance is not a static point; it's a constant movement that, on average, must be centered.

Q: What are you most proud of in your professional career or personal journey?

Working from within the Santiago Wild festival makes me happy and proud because it is a path that has been taken step by step, very consciously and in a humble and honest way. Working for a place that seeks to empower filmmakers from around the world, I inevitably see myself 5 or 10 years ago. Today, I'm still an aspiring producer/filmmaker, so it's a dual purpose, working for others and myself, or a part of me that is out there.

When I first became curious about filmmaking and nature, I was about 19 years old. I didn't know anyone with the same curiosity and dreamed of the same thing as me…

Ten years ago, Ladera Sur appeared and became a refuge to share with others with similar interests. Then, when Santiago Wild - by Ladera Sur- was launched 6 years ago, I was already like that fan who goes to see his favorite band every time they play live, and after going to every gig, eventually ended up playing in that band.

It's so hard to find a place in this industry, especially from Latin America and Chile, so the idea of creating a hub from the southern hemisphere and expanding the northern hemisphere network just makes too much sense. But the festival is only a part of my work, because I also have a parallel independent career. Filming nature is a separate and personal path. It started very innocently, organically, but that moved one piece that then moved another, and thus triggered a series of events that brought me here today. I am far from being resolved; it is a long-term search.

Tracking wildlife in the surroundings hills of Santiago. Photo courtesy of Juan Croxatto.

Q: What’s the most memorable/thrilling/euphoric experience you’ve had while working in the field?

In 2023, I went for 3 months to shoot in Costa Rica. The whole journey was a trip in itself, but we spent 1 month in the south, near the Osa Peninsula, and the rest in the north. Living in the jungle and coexisting with such a diversity of animals was amazing and very revealing. From small insects, arachnids and amphibians that you live with every day, to encounters with larger mammals, felines and exotic birds, or giant reptiles like crocodiles and snakes. It was a dream to insert myself in such an environment to film, and I must say that I was not prepared, because it is an ecosystem so different and alien to the one we live in Chile, that everything was new and unknown and if you do not know the environment it is very difficult to capture the stories and successfully record the phenomena of nature. And I was definitely not prepared for the humidity that affects the lenses 😅.

Filming Crocodiles at Barra del Colorado, North Caribbean Costa Rican with Sofía. Photo courtesy of Juan Croxatto.

One specific night, looking for amphibians, I had a close encounter with an adult Ocelot(Leopardus pardalis) that came out of some bushes 2 meters away. Stood still and we watched each other for a moment, but as I did not react surprisingly, it remained calm and disappeared into the jungle. I was absolutely excited inside, but always kept calm…

Q: What excites you about filmmaking? What drew you to it?

Filmmaking is a great kitchen of rhythmic elements, sound, image, ingredients that we can combine to provoke, tell things and transmit flavours. What can be more powerful than that? In addition to photography and filmmaking, I'm a musician too, so I love creating music for visuals, and I'm very attracted to rhythm, soundscape, and melodies.

I'm a filmmaking nerd; I find them the most fun toys to use. I'm quite obsessed with the image and have the curse that when I watch a film, I easily deviate towards understanding how the thing is made, where the light is coming from, how the camera moves, what elements compose the image, and suddenly I forget what's going on in the story. It's a fixation that I often have to restrain 😅.

I also really like that filmmaking - or the camera for that matter - is like a portal to things that are hidden. The microscopic, what's beyond the earth (the stars, other galaxies), what appears when we watch at 1000 fps, or manipulate time in reverse, a thermal camera, infrared. etc. Things hidden but in plain sight. I find it the closest thing to magic.

Although there are more and more innovative media, 3D technology, virtual reality, XR, etc, I feel that we haven’t yet entirely explored the 2D image + sound and the infinite possibilities of telling stories with that.

Q: What projects are you working on currently?

Currently, Santiago Wild is taking most of my time, but I am always looking for things on my own. I’ve been discovering and filming the environments that surround the city of Santiago. We live at the foot of the mountains, surrounded by hills where there is life often overlooked. Mammals, birds of prey, insects, amphibians, etc.

To discover and show what lives among us, the city dwellers, and show there is a nature that must be taken care of, and it is not just a piece of dry hill as it might look, I have a call to that. You don't have to go to Costa Rica or Africa to discover nature stories worth telling.

Also, I've been looking into set design. I am very attracted to that more studio work, more technical, of the micro, the hidden, and that can be explored in a single room..

Q: You received your university degree in design and worked as a creative director for three years. Did you always know you wanted to study (and later work) in a creative field? Additionally, how does your background as a designer influence your work as a natural history storyteller & filmmaker?

Studying design was one of the most fun things I could have done. I was able to take all the tools and skills I had learned in my life up to that point, sort them out and orient them with a purpose. My childhood was quite stimulated by the arts, music and also the outdoors. I learned to play musical instruments from a very young age, and I drew, painted, etc. But at the same time, I felt a strong calling towards nature. Living in such a geographically diverse country, it is inevitable to feel that interest, I believe. On my 9th birthday, my parents gave me a “toy” microscope with which I could see a hidden world. For a curious child to discover that is quite revealing. I continued making music, playing with bands, but when I got older, I took the camera and started exploring photography and videos, and combining it with the sound aspect. And suddenly I was the one shooting the shows, making video clips, creating the visuals, the artwork, etc.

Then design brought it all together, glued it all. Unlike art, design is focused on finding a need. You have to discover that need by observing exhaustively until you find behaviors that can be addressed, corrected, or improved. That is design in essence. Design gave me structure and methodologies to combine a whole range of interests that before were only expressed in a childish and whimsical way, without an objective, in just a playful way.

Design and filmmaking are very similar. It is storytelling, they tell a story and take you on a journey that has been previously thought out and ideally intentional. The “user experience designer” or UX designer, so common today, is dedicated to creating the “journey” of your relationship with a product or service. Watching a film is pretty much a journey. A character goes through a series of steps and these are represented in an archetypal way that we can identify with and thus feel emotions. It is not very different. Finally, humans tell stories all the time. When we converse, we tell jokes, we send emails, we tweet, etc. We are, by nature, storytellers. I think it is all one same bag.

Q: What are the unique opportunities and potential challenges of being a filmmaker from South America, particularly Chile? What is the importance of reaching broader audiences with local stories centered around South America?

The challenge of being a filmmaker in South America is precisely what, in turn, generates the greatest of qualities. Latin America stands out as a region where resources have always been limited. There are so many basic needs to satisfy first that the way to solve problems is with creativity and skills, and having to be very strategic in the use of resources. I like the phrase “What can we do with what we have, -not with what we don't-”. I love how guerrilla we Latin Americans are, how unique and creative. It's an environment where opportunities are harder to come by, but it brings out the best in a rich, colorful, diverse and wild culture that I think is very connected to its surroundings and its roots, and therefore demonstrates a way of doing things that is very much its own, authentic and local.

Q: About six months ago, you launched a podcast where you interview natural history filmmakers and storytellers. So far, you’ve spoken with Ismaele Tortella, Pablo Albarenga, Emi Kondo, and Chía Flórez. What inspired you to start a podcast? Did you know you wanted it to be in Spanish from the start?

Watching documentaries, I always came to the same conclusion. People want to know how it was done. That's why I became interested in this type of content and basically listened to everything there was on this subject. There are several good talk shows with filmmakers, producers, cameramen and filmmakers in general. While nature production is a niche, there is more and more content to learn how and what's behind nature stories, but not one of those in Spanish. It is quite evident that this space needs to be filled somehow, especially because Latin American talent needs to be brought to light.

For those who are just starting out, it is an excellent source of information where you can learn from others who have been working in this field for years. I don't limit myself to just having it in Spanish, I like it to be emerging filmmakers, who have already taken their first steps, who are a little further ahead, but are not necessarily veterans with many years of experience. I like to keep it close, friendly, to be able to ramble a bit around ideas and reach a young and curious audience.

Q: I noticed your interest in fungi through your beautiful photography of them as subjects! What is it about them you love capturing so much?

Chile took some prominence in the fungi-mania that awakened a few years ago. It was inevitable to be involved in nature topics and that they did not appear everywhere (literally)..

I think the turning point was Fantastic Fungi. That film was like Pandora's box was suddenly opened, and everyone started to be fascinated by fungi. In turn, thanks to the work of Giuliana Furci, a Chilean mycologist who founded Fundación Fungi in 2010 and was a disciple of Paul Stamets, Chile became the first country in the world to include the fungi kingdom in its legislation, that is, to legally protect this kingdom.

Then came second waves, such as Merlin Sheldrake's book “Entangled Life”, or The Last of Us series and video game, the production and consumption of adaptogenic mushrooms became massive, knowledge about the medicinal use of mushrooms expanded, microdosing became fashionable, kits for self-cultivation began to be sold and so on. Mushrooms were everywhere, certain myths were demolished, and they were no longer taboo. They went from being science to pop culture.

I started recording them, going out in the field to look for them, I traveled, went to mushroom festivals, started growing them, reading papers, creating art with them. For a certain period of my life, it was all about mushrooms.

I had generated some content, but I didn't know what to do with it, and then I thought, “no one is going to knock at my door asking about what I'm doing with them”, so I decided to make a fake interview (yup, no one in front), pile all up and share it on youtube to wrap that period of exploration and move on to other things.

Fungi are a fascinating kingdom, a pillar of evolution that has shaped life as we know it today, they are everywhere and we are just beginning to understand what they are all about. If you're interested in nature, you can't overlook them.

Q: In 2023, you participated in the Santiago Wild Media Lab and are now working as a producer with the fantastic team at Santiago Wild / Ladera Sur. In a way, it’s been a bit of a full circle moment! What has this experience been like working with Antonia, Martín, and the team, and how has it impacted you as a filmmaker?

This is the kind of manifestation of life, combined with training, some bit of stubbornness and a deep curious search that constantly makes me wonder “where is this all going”. I'm still training and learning. I haven't decided what I want to be, but that will happen further down the road, I guess.

Before I won the first MediaLab scholarship, I was about to throw in the towel on the idea of being a filmmaker and working on nature projects. I had been freelancing for a couple of years trying to figure out how to work on this, and despite many attempts, I never managed to consolidate it, I got pretty frustrated.

I started looking for work as a designer in some startup, in companies, etc.. And it wasn't more than a couple of days when the application for the lab in January 2023 appeared. I jumped over it. When Ladera Sur posted “thanks to the more than 650 applicants from 32 countries for applying to the lab…” I said, “no chance”, and forgot about it. I shouldn’t put all my eggs in that one basket, so I organized a 3-month trip to Costa Rica with Sofia, my partner, to make a documentary in the wildest nature I could find. When we got the green light to go for 3 months to this jungle refuge, that same week, I received an email from Santiago Wild that I had earned one of the 12 scholarships.

Then came a wave of events that told me that I had to keep insisting. At the Lab, I really met the first people with whom I shared this eagerness to tell nature stories, and it was a very nice and entertaining experience. International mentors, the support of Jackson Wild, professional equipment from Sony, and a lot of work and nights to be spent editing.

Juan at the 2024 Santiago Wild Media Lab

Then, a month after the Lab went to Costa Rica, and while there, the opportunity arose to go to the Jackson Wild Summit 2023. I applied as a volunteer and traveled to Wyoming. While at Jackson Wild, I shared a lot with Martín and René Araneda, a Chilean producer and director who was the final jury of that edition. When I returned, Martín invited me to be the producer of the 2024 edition of Santiago Wild. We had to make the festival grow, make another Media Lab, and the first Summit in Santiago.

The 2024 edition was a big step for the festival. I had to coordinate the Lab program (+650 applications again), moderate conversation panels, program the festival's content, evaluate the films, and in short, a lot of work for a small team.

Then I thought, I want to go to other nature festivals to have another perspective, so I applied as a volunteer to visit Wildscreen, and we left with Sofia. We spent 10 days in Bristol and had another very enriching experience from the inside. Then I started the Podcast because I felt I had gained some experience that allowed me to talk to people about these issues and communicate from a personal space. Upon returning from the trip we got down to work to start preparing Santiago Wild 2025 and here we are right now, on the verge of a new edition that continues to grow, attracting more talent, industry players and empowering emerging voices.

I'm not sure what's next. It’s a constant dance between wanting one thing, and something unexpected showing up from my back. Maybe that is why I still haven’t done that feature doc… instead I'm watching them all 😂

Q: If you could give any advice to your younger self or an aspiring storyteller and conservationist, what would it be?

I believe that everyone who has made it in this industry has a very unique path. Some get lit earlier, some get older, but that timing is defined by elements that are difficult to understand, and the only thing that will make us thrive is the relationship we have with ourselves regarding expectations, pressures and anxieties -which most of the time come from ourselves, no one else.

In this age of information and accelerated and uncertain times we live in, we crave answers, things that diminish anxiety and uncertainty, but the truth is that those feelings are intrinsic to any search that does not have a predefined path. That’s inherent exploration. Like Darwin, Columbus or Shackleton, they didn't know what they were going to find, but for some reason - apparently quite spiritual - they had to go and discover it.

Also, it's a job that usually translates into concrete things. Audiovisual projects, films, how much measurable impact we really generate with our campaign or conservation project, and it would seem that everything that cannot be seen, measured and demonstrated does not exist, but that goes straight against all the intangible learning we earn by the journey, which is valuable and must be cultivated in time.

Finally, what everyone is really looking for is to relate to good people, and there are just little tips for that, but the most important to me is to live authentically towards what calls you and what you are passionate about, and that way you can be the best version of yourself. That might be liked or not liked by others, but you’ll be fine with yourself.

Follow Juan on Instagram, check out his podcast, and visit his website to see more of his work.

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